Today’s Reading List – December 1, 2006 | Article VI Blog

Jerry Falwell is not endorsing Romney, but he could. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe tries, and fails, I think, to find something wrong with Romney's conduct regarding Falwell's statement. This blogger seems to get it right. The Valletta Papers has more.

Strategists for Romney's competitors think the religion issue is overblown. I'd feel more confident about their opinions if they came from someone who isn't getting paid to defeat Romney. Charles Mitchell seems to feel the same way:

I want to be encouraged that the "pros" think the so-called "Mormon issue" isn't really an issue–but I guess I'll believe it if and when I don't see a nasty whisper campaign in South Carolina from, um, those same innocent-sounding guys.

Right.

A little more on the same elite political insider panel discussion here. The writer thinks Romney will have more trouble convincing conservatives to vote for him than convincing Evangelicals to do so. (The writer may be right.) And here's Romney's pollster, in the same panel discussion, on the Mormon Question:

The people in this room are going to hear questions about the Mormon thing until its ridiculous or its embarassing. I think the question will wear itself out. There is no answer because the question is a weapon and you keep repeating the question until people . . . don’t want to hear it anymore.

Note the use of the word "cult" here. John: This piece certainly bears out the definition of a cult as a "church without political power."

"Reason is a gift from God. A faith whose actions are tempered by reason is an antidote to violence and extremism." Corollary: Faith discrimination is not "reasonable."

Lipscomb: Establishing "Christendom" should not be the goal of Christianity.

Keith Ellison will be sworn in as a Congressman with his hand on the Koran. I wonder if that is not a little childish of him, but I don't think it's a big deal. No one has to have his or her hand on anything when sworn in to any federal office; it's just a custom. By the way, if Mitt Romney is ever sworn in as president of the U.S., he'll have his hand on a Bible. That's how he was sworn in as Governor of Massachusetts. Mormons do not believe the Book of Mormon is a substitute for the Bible.

At the Republican Governors' Association annual meeting, Romney says the GOP's losses in 2006 did not come because the GOP ran off course: "Where we get in trouble is where we say one thing and do something else."

Funny thing about that RGA meeting: The Washington Post story doesn't mention John McCain, but the New York Times does. Political consultant Patrick Hynes, who is working for McCain, quotes the Times account only and insists that McCain "stole the show." Jonathan Martin of National Review tells you what actually happened, which is to be expected, since he isn't being paid by McCain.

Hynes' blog is an excellent place to go to see what the McCain campaign is really thinking, and the issues on which McCain's people plan to attack Romney. The top three posts there today are devoted to passing on negative information about Romney. Don't worry, however, Hynes insists his motives are pure, despite the $31,500 McCain has already paid him. It's just that his blog is becoming the place to go if you want to know the latest anti-Romney buzz. More on this here.

Speaking of anti-Romney work, the Boston Globe will surely be a fertile source for Mr. Hynes. Hugh Hewitt notes that the Globe is doing a "reverse Kerry" on Romney. More from Hugh here:

As both Fred Barnes and Morton Kondracke agreed on tonight's show, it isn't a story of any consequence except it indicates again that the MSM has its knives out early and pointed only in the direction of the Republican candidates.

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